Kristin Gomez, President
Kristin Gomez is a violist with our orchestra, Director of Orchestras at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Arlington, and teaches orchestra at Arlington’s Abingdon Elementary. She is Director and Conductor of the Junior All-County Orchestra of Arlington Public Schools and Principal viola of the Pan American Symphony, and violist with the Arlington Philharmonic. She holds degrees in French Literature and Music.
Amy A. Thomas, Vice President
Amy A. Thomas received her Bachelor and Master degrees in music performance (as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Economics) from the University of Maryland. Ms. Thomas has appeared locally as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the McLean Orchestra, Georgetown Symphony and the Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra. She has performed at various distinguished venues such as the Anderson House, the Arts Club of Washington, Strathmore Hall and the Phillips Gallery, as well as in Europe at the Chamber Festival de la Gesse in France. She has played flute and piccolo with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Alexandria Symphony, the Fairfax Symphony, the Maryland Symphony and the Wolf Trap Opera Orchestra. Currently, Ms. Thomas is principal flute in the Tysons McLean Orchestra and second flute/piccolo in the Arlington Philharmonic. She is also an active chamber performer with a variety of groups such as the Amelia Ensembles. She is the founder and coordinator of the concert series located in Kensington, MD, called Listen Local Concerts (www.ListenLocalConcerts.com). Ms. Thomas maintains a private teaching studio in Bethesda,
MD.
Secretary (Vacant)
Rachel Warner, Treasurer
Rachel Warner, Arlington resident, is a flutist, currently playing with the Arlington Concert Orchestra, directed by fellow Board Member Veronica Jackson, which was founded in 2012 through the Arlington Community Learning Program for amateur musicians. She is also a member of the hand bell choir Polymnia at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA. She worked for the U.S. Government for over 30 years, first at the Library of Congress and then at the Department of State, until her retirement in 2016. At the Department of State, she was an intelligence analyst, focused on Africa, in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
Mary Dausch, Board Member
Mary Dausch is a violist with the Arlington Philharmonic, the Amadeus Orchestra, and the Fairfax Symphony; she also freelances around in the D.C. area. Mrs. Dausch is the violin and viola instructor at the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland. She received a Bachelor of Music Performance from San Francisco Conservatory and holds a masters degree from Rice University. Mrs. Dausch is the mother to four children and lives in Maryland.
We wish to express our deepest appreciation of Elizabeth Fogel, who recently stepped down from the Board. During her tenure as Board President, she guided us through the turbulent waters of the COVID pandemic and the new challenge of virtual programming. An innovative thinker, Elizabeth took the AP to a new level of excellence. She may no longer be on the Board, but we will continue to look to her for advice and ideas. We wish her all the best with the impending birth of her third child.
Alan Herman, Board Member and former Board Treasurer
Alan Herman is a retired USAF Judge Advocate, having served in Germany, the Philippines, five years each as a professor at the Air Force Academy and as an Appellate Judge on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. He was Clerk of the D.C. Court of Appeals for six years following, and spent 25 years with AARP’s Legal Counsel for the elderly, providing free legal services to D.C. residents over the age of 60. He continues his almost 30 years mediating about 100 cases annually for the D.C. Superior Court. He is Treasurer of the Alexandria Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, and Treasurer of the D.C. Reduced Fee Lawyer and Mediator Referral Service. He has served on the Arlington Philharmonic board for more than 10 years, three years as Treasurer.
Martin Garfield-Levine, Board Member
Martin Garfield-Levine received his Bachelor of Music Education in 2014 from the University of Colorado at Boulder. After teaching in Colorado, he moved to Northern Virginia and teaches middle school orchestra in Fairfax County Public Schools. He has taught for six years and is working towards his Master’s Degree in Arts Management at American University. Mr. Garfield-Levine is an accomplished musician, performing with many orchestras in the Washington Metro area. He also performs traditional Irish and bluegrass music around the east coast, and plays in pit orchestras for musicals. Outside of music, he is also a professional Irish dancer working towards his teaching license in the field.
Patrick Kumashiro, Board Member
Patrick Kumashiro is the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (Acquisition & Sustainment) Senior Advisor for F-35 Sustainment. Prior to his current position, he was the Director, United States Air Force (USAF) Market at LMI, where he delivered AI/ML advanced analytics, digital services, logistics, and management advisory services to USAF clients. A retired USAF Colonel, he served as an aircraft maintenance and logistics officer for 27 years. Mr. Kumashiro has a BA in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin, an MS in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (Eisenhower School), and MA in Military Studies, Marine Corps Command & Staff College, and an MA in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. He is married to fellow Board Member Suzanne Kumashiro.
Suzanne Kumashiro, Board Member
Suzanne Kumashiro, a retired USAF Colonel who served as a Communications and Cyber Officer for 28 years, is a Services Delivery Manager in the National Security Operations Market of Cisco Systems, Incorporated. She is responsible for ensuring that Cisco Services are fully operational for eight Defense Industrial Base customers, as well as the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development. Prior to her current position, she was the Advisor to the Chief Information Officer, Headquarters United States Air Force (USAF), Pentagon. Mrs. Kumashiro has a BS in Management Information Systems, an MA in Human Resources, an MA in Military Studies, Marine Corps Command & Staff College, and an MS in National Resources Strategy. Currently, she is a Catholic Religious Education Teacher for Joint Base Myer Henderson Hall Catholic Church. She and her husband, fellow Board Member Patrick Kumashiro, are the parents of twins, both violinists who played in the Wakefield High School Chamber Orchestra.
Alyssa Williamson, Board Member
A warm welcome to our newest Board Member! Alyssa Williamson studied flute performance (B.M. 2009) and law (J.D. 2012) at the University of Kansas. She works in HR with Arlington County Department of Environmental Services. Outside of work, Alyssa serves on the Development Committee of the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, volunteers with education-based organizations Aspire! and the Dream Project and plays in DC Flutes and the Arlington Concert Orchestra. Alyssa lives in Annandale with her spouse Josh and rescue pitts Anne and Dale.
A. Scott Wood, Ex Officio Member
A. Scott Wood is Music Director and Conductor of the Arlington Philharmonic. Mr. Wood was named to the position in April 2010, after conducting the orchestra since June 2008. Maestro Wood provides artistic leadership, selects the repertoire, conducts the orchestra and oversees all musical decisions. Wood also directs the Amadeus Orchestra, the National Cathedral School and St. Albans School Orchestra, and the George Washington University Orchestra.
In demand as a guest conductor, Maestro Wood traveled in June 2019 to conduct the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion. He recently led the Wolf Trap Orchestra where he was publicly lauded by legendary Bollywood singer Asha Bhosle. Other guest appearances have included the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, the Brevard (North Carolina) Philharmonic, the Rutgers Sinfonia, and the Washington Symphonic Brass. He has collaborated with Bowen-McCauley Dance, conducted the Kennedy Center’s popular Messiah Sing-Along and worked with many choral ensembles, including the Army Chorus, the Navy Sea Chanters, the National Cathedral Singers, the Vienna Choral Society, the Reston Chorale, the Fairfax Choral Society, and Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists.
Sought after as an educator, Wood has influenced aspiring young musicians in organizations including the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Shenandoah Valley, Potomac Valley, Chesapeake, Prince William, and D.C. Youth Orchestras, as well as George Mason University’s Potomac Arts Academy and others. Wood’s work in the area of music education has earned him the Fairfax Symphony Serage Award for Music Education, and in 2016, the National Cathedral School named him distinguished holder of the Roeckelein Chair in Music and awarded him a fellowship in recognition of outstanding teachers and their lifelong impact on students. He has been honored by the Arlington branch of the American Association of University Women for his contributions to the arts in Arlington.
Maestro Wood has also been engaged as lecturer for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and National Philharmonic at the Strathmore Performing Arts Center, and has spoken at the Smithsonian Institution, the Goethe-Institut, the Concurso di Canto Lirico in Peru, for Encore Learning, Johns Hopkins University’s OASIS, and the Borders College of Classical Knowledge. He is an advisor to the prestigious Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition—a biennial international event—and a panelist for OnStage Korea at the Korean Cultural Center.
Born into a military family, Mr. Wood traveled extensively as a young man and learned the trumpet in a German Musikverein. While attending the University of Illinois, he went to London as a finalist in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition. He subsequently was a fellow at the International Conductors Workshop in the Czech Republic, was the recipient of the first-ever conducting fellowship given jointly by the League of American Orchestras and Chorus America, and received a grant for study in Italy.
Kristin Gomez is a violist with our orchestra, Director of Orchestras at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Arlington, and teaches orchestra at Arlington’s Abingdon Elementary. She is Director and Conductor of the Junior All-County Orchestra of Arlington Public Schools and Principal viola of the Pan American Symphony, and violist with the Arlington Philharmonic. She holds degrees in French Literature and Music.
Amy A. Thomas, Vice President
Amy A. Thomas received her Bachelor and Master degrees in music performance (as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Economics) from the University of Maryland. Ms. Thomas has appeared locally as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the McLean Orchestra, Georgetown Symphony and the Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra. She has performed at various distinguished venues such as the Anderson House, the Arts Club of Washington, Strathmore Hall and the Phillips Gallery, as well as in Europe at the Chamber Festival de la Gesse in France. She has played flute and piccolo with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Alexandria Symphony, the Fairfax Symphony, the Maryland Symphony and the Wolf Trap Opera Orchestra. Currently, Ms. Thomas is principal flute in the Tysons McLean Orchestra and second flute/piccolo in the Arlington Philharmonic. She is also an active chamber performer with a variety of groups such as the Amelia Ensembles. She is the founder and coordinator of the concert series located in Kensington, MD, called Listen Local Concerts (www.ListenLocalConcerts.com). Ms. Thomas maintains a private teaching studio in Bethesda,
MD.
Secretary (Vacant)
Rachel Warner, Treasurer
Rachel Warner, Arlington resident, is a flutist, currently playing with the Arlington Concert Orchestra, directed by fellow Board Member Veronica Jackson, which was founded in 2012 through the Arlington Community Learning Program for amateur musicians. She is also a member of the hand bell choir Polymnia at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA. She worked for the U.S. Government for over 30 years, first at the Library of Congress and then at the Department of State, until her retirement in 2016. At the Department of State, she was an intelligence analyst, focused on Africa, in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
Mary Dausch, Board Member
Mary Dausch is a violist with the Arlington Philharmonic, the Amadeus Orchestra, and the Fairfax Symphony; she also freelances around in the D.C. area. Mrs. Dausch is the violin and viola instructor at the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland. She received a Bachelor of Music Performance from San Francisco Conservatory and holds a masters degree from Rice University. Mrs. Dausch is the mother to four children and lives in Maryland.
We wish to express our deepest appreciation of Elizabeth Fogel, who recently stepped down from the Board. During her tenure as Board President, she guided us through the turbulent waters of the COVID pandemic and the new challenge of virtual programming. An innovative thinker, Elizabeth took the AP to a new level of excellence. She may no longer be on the Board, but we will continue to look to her for advice and ideas. We wish her all the best with the impending birth of her third child.
Alan Herman, Board Member and former Board Treasurer
Alan Herman is a retired USAF Judge Advocate, having served in Germany, the Philippines, five years each as a professor at the Air Force Academy and as an Appellate Judge on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. He was Clerk of the D.C. Court of Appeals for six years following, and spent 25 years with AARP’s Legal Counsel for the elderly, providing free legal services to D.C. residents over the age of 60. He continues his almost 30 years mediating about 100 cases annually for the D.C. Superior Court. He is Treasurer of the Alexandria Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, and Treasurer of the D.C. Reduced Fee Lawyer and Mediator Referral Service. He has served on the Arlington Philharmonic board for more than 10 years, three years as Treasurer.
Martin Garfield-Levine, Board Member
Martin Garfield-Levine received his Bachelor of Music Education in 2014 from the University of Colorado at Boulder. After teaching in Colorado, he moved to Northern Virginia and teaches middle school orchestra in Fairfax County Public Schools. He has taught for six years and is working towards his Master’s Degree in Arts Management at American University. Mr. Garfield-Levine is an accomplished musician, performing with many orchestras in the Washington Metro area. He also performs traditional Irish and bluegrass music around the east coast, and plays in pit orchestras for musicals. Outside of music, he is also a professional Irish dancer working towards his teaching license in the field.
Patrick Kumashiro, Board Member
Patrick Kumashiro is the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (Acquisition & Sustainment) Senior Advisor for F-35 Sustainment. Prior to his current position, he was the Director, United States Air Force (USAF) Market at LMI, where he delivered AI/ML advanced analytics, digital services, logistics, and management advisory services to USAF clients. A retired USAF Colonel, he served as an aircraft maintenance and logistics officer for 27 years. Mr. Kumashiro has a BA in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin, an MS in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (Eisenhower School), and MA in Military Studies, Marine Corps Command & Staff College, and an MA in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. He is married to fellow Board Member Suzanne Kumashiro.
Suzanne Kumashiro, Board Member
Suzanne Kumashiro, a retired USAF Colonel who served as a Communications and Cyber Officer for 28 years, is a Services Delivery Manager in the National Security Operations Market of Cisco Systems, Incorporated. She is responsible for ensuring that Cisco Services are fully operational for eight Defense Industrial Base customers, as well as the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development. Prior to her current position, she was the Advisor to the Chief Information Officer, Headquarters United States Air Force (USAF), Pentagon. Mrs. Kumashiro has a BS in Management Information Systems, an MA in Human Resources, an MA in Military Studies, Marine Corps Command & Staff College, and an MS in National Resources Strategy. Currently, she is a Catholic Religious Education Teacher for Joint Base Myer Henderson Hall Catholic Church. She and her husband, fellow Board Member Patrick Kumashiro, are the parents of twins, both violinists who played in the Wakefield High School Chamber Orchestra.
Alyssa Williamson, Board Member
A warm welcome to our newest Board Member! Alyssa Williamson studied flute performance (B.M. 2009) and law (J.D. 2012) at the University of Kansas. She works in HR with Arlington County Department of Environmental Services. Outside of work, Alyssa serves on the Development Committee of the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, volunteers with education-based organizations Aspire! and the Dream Project and plays in DC Flutes and the Arlington Concert Orchestra. Alyssa lives in Annandale with her spouse Josh and rescue pitts Anne and Dale.
A. Scott Wood, Ex Officio Member
A. Scott Wood is Music Director and Conductor of the Arlington Philharmonic. Mr. Wood was named to the position in April 2010, after conducting the orchestra since June 2008. Maestro Wood provides artistic leadership, selects the repertoire, conducts the orchestra and oversees all musical decisions. Wood also directs the Amadeus Orchestra, the National Cathedral School and St. Albans School Orchestra, and the George Washington University Orchestra.
In demand as a guest conductor, Maestro Wood traveled in June 2019 to conduct the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion. He recently led the Wolf Trap Orchestra where he was publicly lauded by legendary Bollywood singer Asha Bhosle. Other guest appearances have included the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, the Brevard (North Carolina) Philharmonic, the Rutgers Sinfonia, and the Washington Symphonic Brass. He has collaborated with Bowen-McCauley Dance, conducted the Kennedy Center’s popular Messiah Sing-Along and worked with many choral ensembles, including the Army Chorus, the Navy Sea Chanters, the National Cathedral Singers, the Vienna Choral Society, the Reston Chorale, the Fairfax Choral Society, and Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists.
Sought after as an educator, Wood has influenced aspiring young musicians in organizations including the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Shenandoah Valley, Potomac Valley, Chesapeake, Prince William, and D.C. Youth Orchestras, as well as George Mason University’s Potomac Arts Academy and others. Wood’s work in the area of music education has earned him the Fairfax Symphony Serage Award for Music Education, and in 2016, the National Cathedral School named him distinguished holder of the Roeckelein Chair in Music and awarded him a fellowship in recognition of outstanding teachers and their lifelong impact on students. He has been honored by the Arlington branch of the American Association of University Women for his contributions to the arts in Arlington.
Maestro Wood has also been engaged as lecturer for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and National Philharmonic at the Strathmore Performing Arts Center, and has spoken at the Smithsonian Institution, the Goethe-Institut, the Concurso di Canto Lirico in Peru, for Encore Learning, Johns Hopkins University’s OASIS, and the Borders College of Classical Knowledge. He is an advisor to the prestigious Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition—a biennial international event—and a panelist for OnStage Korea at the Korean Cultural Center.
Born into a military family, Mr. Wood traveled extensively as a young man and learned the trumpet in a German Musikverein. While attending the University of Illinois, he went to London as a finalist in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition. He subsequently was a fellow at the International Conductors Workshop in the Czech Republic, was the recipient of the first-ever conducting fellowship given jointly by the League of American Orchestras and Chorus America, and received a grant for study in Italy.